Plan B

I took advantage of today's nice weather by getting out for the first time in weeks.  I had my heart set on a little creek that was generous to me last winter and had been looking forward to it for days.  It was not to be.  I got all the way there, found 2 trucks in the lot and knew that I needed a plan B.  I broke out the map and decided on a drainage that Marty and I visited 2 winters ago.  On that trip, we got all the way back in there and found the water not exactly in a liquid state.

Obviously a return trip was warranted and I figured it should be a little better today.  On that trip we came in the from the bottom on a pretty sketchy road.  Since I was already up on Skyline Drive today, I started the long trek down in there.

Things looked a little more promising this time around.

And the fishing turned out to be pretty decent.

The scenery was nice although not quite as dramatic as the ice sculptures I remembered from last time.

The day warmed into the mid 40s and I started noticing a few fish hanging out near the surface in the sunny spots.  Out came the dries and the fish obliged.  You've got to love a fish that will happily eat a dry fly in January.  One of my biggest brookies ever.

As is often the case, plan B turned out better than the original.  So, even though I didn't get what I wanted, I got what I needed.